Been in the Strom So Long: The Aftermath of Slavery

by Leon F. Litwack

Brief Overview:

“Been in the Storm So Long” by Leon Litwack gives you a background look at what was going on during the Civil war. Using quotes from previously interviewed people who were alive during the war, Litwack talks about many different misconceptions concerning the African American slaves toward the war as well as the slave-masters and even soldiers at that time. He divides the book into three general parts: the time before the war, how and why events were handled during the war, and the slow recovery afterwards.

At the beginnings of the war it seemed as though the slaves didn’t exactly understand what or why the war was, which made it look like they could care less about their freedom or future. While the first par t of that statement was partially true, it didn’t explain why there wasn’t a more blatant joy abounding from the blacks during the Civil War. From the Southern white man’s point of view, the slave holders in particular, the war couldn’t be more unwelcome. Slaves gave each of them a business, in turn supporting the family. Working the fields with more hands allowed more work to be done and not having to pair those extra hands allowed more money to be made. Taking that away from them was obviously not going to be done by simple negotiation. This, of course, was the reason for the war in the first place. Therefore when the war was underway and attempts were actually being made to ‘set the captives free’, the anxiety of the loss of all that power and control made the whites afraid and they retaliated in different ways. Some of them beat their slaves more, others just ran away completely. One slave even put out a reward for the return of his mater.

“500 REWARD – Rund away from me on the 7^th of dis month, my mass Julian Rhett. Massa Rhett am five feet ‘leven inches high, big shoulders, brack hair, curly, shaggy whiskers, low forehead an’ dark face…I will [give] $100 for him if alive, an’ $500 if anybody show [him] dead.” (Litwack, 112)

That fear actually gave the blacks more of a reason to hope that change was actually coming. Seeing the people that once had complete control over them in this new light of helplessness was a big change already.

“I seen our “Federates go off laughin’ an’ gay; full of life an’ health. Dey was big an’ strong, asingin’ Dixie an’ dey jus knowed dy was agoin’ to win. I seen ‘em come back skin an’ bone, dere eyes all sad an’ hollow, an’ dere clothes all ragged. Dey was all lookin’ sick. De sperrit dey lef’ wid jus been done whupped outten dem.” (Litwack, 108)

The actual battle for a better America was only halfway done at the end of the Civil War. Many blacks were tossed about in the storm of the confusion and the rushed action that the Civil War left behind. Blacks might have been free on paper but in the minds of whites, and many of the former slaves themselves they were still in bondage. They had to see just how free they really were.

“By enlarging the freedman’s sense of what was attainable, desirable, and tolerable, emancipation encouraged a degree of independence and assertiveness which bondage had sharply contained. To leave the plantation without a pass, to slow the pace of work, to haggle over wages and conditions, to refuse punishment, or to violate racial etiquette were all ways of testing the limits of freedom.” (Litwack, 227) All of these factors contributed to the slow recovery of America post-Civil war.

In my opinion:

There are plenty of books that have been done on America pre, during, and post Civil war, however there are few like Litwack’s. Probably the most obvious thing that sets Litwack’s book apart from others is the inserts of first hand accounts from people that were there when the War was taking place, former slaves and also former slave-masters. That made it feel as though you were being included in an almost personal conversation, as opposed to simply reading about a commonly spoken about event in a history book. Other qualities that set Litwack’s work aside were simple – but often abused in most books written intellectually – things like using clever, bright language without making the reader have to keep a dictionary close by while reading. In my opinion all of these were factors in making Leon Litwacks book more enjoyable, which made it easier to see the key points in his writing.

Leon Litwack also did an amazing job articulating just how confused and misguided feelings were among blacks and whites alike at that time. Litwack gives you a glimpse at what was going on in the minds of the people involved during that era, especially after the Civil war was officially over. After reading this book, you can clearly see what little thought was put into the reconstruction of America’s society after the African American slaves had been set free. That was, for me, probably one of the more disappointing moments in America’s history – aside from slavery itself.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants an inside look at the thoughts, feelings, and actions of the Southern blacks and whites during the Civil war and the time after. Litwack provides an enthralling yet matter-of-fact story for all to sink their mental teeth into.